Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawwa and founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba.—AP Photo

Hafiz Saeed, who has now officially become one of the most wanted men in India and United States, was born in 1950 in the city of Sargodha, Pakistan. He hails from a conservative Punjabi family and according to some sources had lost 36 members of his family whilst migrating from India to Lahore in Pakistan.

Saeed hold two Masters Degrees and has also taught as an Islamic studies teacher at University of Engineering and Technology in Lahore.

Saeed went to Saudi Arabia in the 1980s where he studied under the leadership of Sheikh bin Baz, who also taught Osama bin Laden and Aiman-al-Zawahiri of al-Qaeda.

He was introduced into Pakistani political sphere by General Zia-ul-Haq who appointed Saeed to run the state-governed council on Islamic ideology, which is popularly known as Majlis-e-Shoora.

Saeed founded Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in the initial years of 1990s and has been allegedly involved in the Mumbai attacks of 2008 and Indian Parliament attacks in 2001. LeT was banned in 2002 during the regime of president Pervez Musharraf however the leadership then changed the name of LeT to Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) which is considered to be working for human rights in Pakistan.

Succumbing to the international pressure, the government of Pakistan detained Saeed for his activities in August of 2006 however the court ordered his release in December of the same year.

Two years down the road, he was again detained for his alleged involvement in the Mumbai attacks carried out in 2008. The government of Pakistan had earlier acknowledged that part of the conspiracy against the attacks was perpetrated and planned in Pakistan. Several arrests were made but no concrete charges against Saeed could be framed by the government.

After his release, Saeed stayed out of the public eyes however made an official public appearance in April 2011, to conduct the funeral prayers for Kashmiri leader Maulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah.

Since then, Saeed has been actively organising public rallies to gain support in Pakistani masses and has been staging protests against US drone strikes, Nato supplies and US’s war on terrorism in Afghanistan. His rallies in Lahore, Karachi and other cities of Pakistan have gained much popularity in the extremist section of the society.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6nkY1Jgb6M

On April 2, 2012, US government announced a bounty of $10 million for capturing Saeed. The $10 million reward, made public at rewards and justice website, brought Saeed at par with Taliban founder Mullah Omar, who the United States holds responsible for 9/11 attacks. The move was disclosed to Indian Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai by US Undersecretary of Political Affairs Wendy Sherman.

United States of America describes Saeed as "former professor of Arabic and Engineering, as well as the founding member of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, a radical organization dedicated to installing Islamic rule over parts of India and Pakistan, and its military branch, Lashkar-e-Taiba. Saeed is suspected of masterminding numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai attacks, which resulted in the deaths of 166 people, including six American citizens."

Saaed’s outrageous comments against United States and his campaigns to deter the parliament from restoring Nato supply routes are speculated as the primary reasons to be ‘eligible’ for this bounty.

It is widely understood that attack on Nato convoys and any intentions to disrupt the war against extremism is considered to be an attack on American soil. Saeed’s public rallies and his rampant verbal attacks on the US triggered the bounty and the reaction from US.

Of the many explanations, the obvious deduction is that Washington wishes to appease New Delhi and bring more pressure to bear on Islamabad to make it amenable to its demands. There is also the view that after the ISI cracked down on CIA assets here it is now the latter agency’s turn to turn the screw on its Pakistani counterpart.

The announcement of bounty was mocked by Saeed and he responded to the announcement by addressing a news conference at a hotel – a mere 40-minute drive from the US Embassy in Islamabad, “This is a laughable, absurd announcement. Here I am in front of everyone, not hiding in a cave.”

Saeed's interview with Azaz Syed of DawnNews can be seen in the video below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3jJWxFWUIQ